"Impact" - a selection of articles
"Impact" is the magazine of the parishes of St. Mary's, Gillingham and St. Simon and St. Jude, Milton-on-Stour.
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Continuing Jeffrey Hall’s series in which he introduces lesser known saints listed in the Saints of the Anglican Calendar.
Janani Luwum, Archbishop of Uganda, Martyr, 1922-1977 (17th February)
(from Impact for February 2009)
Janani Luwum came from East Acholi in northern Uganda. Like many other village boys he herded sheep and goats until his father, a Christian convert, managed to get him a place in a high school. He went on to train as a teacher and after two years teaching, he went to St Augustine’s College, Canterbury (England), to train for the priesthood in the Anglican Church. He was ordained priest in 1956 and went back to northern Uganda as a parish priest with twenty-four parishes to care for! In 1969, following 13 years as a parish priest and vice-principal of a theological college, he became bishop of Northern Uganda.
By this time, Janani was as much at home in the international conferences of the Anglican Communion as he was in the Ugandan villages. His warmth and sympathy, his understanding and his human concern became widely known. In 1974, he was elected Archbishop of Uganda, Burundi and Boga-Zaire.
Janani covered his archdiocese tirelessly but his position brought him into direct confrontation with the military dictator, Idi Amin. For a time he managed to work with Amin but relations deteriorated. Amin suspected Christian leaders in Uganda of being in league with the state of Israel (a ludicrous idea of Amin’s twisted mind). Missionaries were banned and Christians began to disappear. Archbishop Luwum spoke out fearlessly against the evils of the military dictatorship and went personally many times to the headquarters of the security forces to enquire about missing Christians.
In 1976, though Janani was full of excitement about plans for the centenary celebrations of the Anglican Church in Uganda, the situation in his country worsened. Christian leaders from the main denominations met under his chairmanship and sent President Amin a strongly worded letter telling him that the whole civilised world was outraged by the breakdown of law and order in Uganda. On 5th February 1977 armed guards searched his house for arms, but Janani told them: “There are no arms here; our house is God’s house”. President Amin sent for Janani on 17th February and some of his fellow clergy insisted on accompanying him. He was accused of complicity in a plot to kill the president and just had time to say to a fellow bishop, “They are going to kill me but I am not afraid”. He was never seen again. Reports from Tanzania said that Amin was personally responsible for shooting the archbishop. His statue is among those of the modern martyrs on the west front of Westminster Abbey.
From a series by the Revd. Jeffrey Hall in which he introduces lesser known saints listed in the Saints of the Anglican Calendar.
Octavia Hill 1838-1912 (13th August)
(from Impact for August 2008)
Caroline Octavia Hill was left to bring up five young daughters after her husband’s bankruptcy. She and her daughters had to work to keep themselves out of poverty. They were fortunate in their Christian Socialist friends, among them Frederick Denison Maurice who was a great inspiration to them. Octavia said later: “It was Mr Maurice who showed me a life in the Creeds, the services and the Bible; who interpreted for me much that was dark and puzzling in life”. The artist John Ruskin gave her a series of commissions in glass painting. He suggested that she might enter a religious community, but she was a worker not a contemplative. She was still only twenty-seven when Ruskin asked her to manage three run-down houses.
Octavia never called the properties ‘slums’ but landlords did not bother about repairs to such properties because tenants often wrecked them, and rents were difficult to collect. She introduced a new principle; the reciprocal duties of landlord and tenant, and so started a new kind of housing management. The properties were repaired – broken windows mended, passages and stairs whitewashed, water supplies and wash-houses improved. In return, the tenants were expected to look after the property and pay their rent. Octavia collected the rents herself, often finding her way through dark courtyards among drunken and brawling men. She treated her tenants with respect; she would not enter their home uninvited, but she often became a friend and confidante. Gradually she taught them to look after the property, paying the men to do small repairs and helping the families to budget in order to pay their rent. She organized a playground for the children and volunteers came to teach them games and dances as an alternative to squatting listlessly in dirty courtyards.
In 1884, the Ecclesiastical Commissioners asked her to manage their properties in Deptford and Southwark. The Women’s University Settlement in Southwark became the centre for training in housing management, where students were taught human relations, accountancy and a very useful knowledge of drains and plumbing. Similar training centres were started in Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester, and the system was taken up in Germany, Holland and the United States.
Octavia’s interests became wider when she campaigned for open spaces in crowded London - ‘the healing gift of space’ for Londoners. Funds poured in to save Parliament Hill Fields and Vauxhall Park. She gave evidence to the Royal Commission on Housing and turned to writing, urging the privileged.
Women's World Day of Prayer (WWDP) Service - 7th March, 2008
(from Impact for May 2008)
The annual Women’s World Day of Prayer service is written by Christian women from a different country each year. This year women from Guyana compiled the service, under the title “God’s Wisdom Provides New Understanding”. As usual, the Gillingham WWDP Committee (inter-denominational), made the preparations for, and led, the local service, which this year was hosted by Gillingham Methodist Church. The Rev. Gordon Elford kindly accompanied the singing on organ and piano and the Rev. Jane Hedges gave the address. Ladies from the Methodist Church provided very welcome refreshments, including coconut and banana cake – the former made from a Guyanese recipe.
The Rev. Joyce Norman welcomed the 63 people who attended, with the reminder that we were sharing in a worldwide offering of worship. Many of the hymns and prayers celebrated God’s wisdom in creation and gave thanks for life, love and understanding. Then a ‘discussion’ took place based on the book of Job, and here the Guyanese women introduced some of the problems that afflict their own lives: drug dealers who tempt their young people into addiction, leading to violence and family strife; HIV infection; the poverty of families living in isolated areas. A reading from Job chapter 28 proclaimed, “Truly, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding”. The second reading from Luke chapter 10 reinforced the idea that our first task is to listen to God so that we can act to overcome problems in His strength.
Helen Jupp from St. Benedict’s Church very beautifully sang the specially composed anthem with its lovely, lilting tune, while seven women from local churches performed a simple, but very moving, circle dance. The clear message of the service was that God is leading the way and that, in dependence on Him, all the diverse peoples of the world can work together in unity of purpose and with love for one another. We were able to send £196.52 from the collection for the work of the organisation.
One of the spin-offs of the WWDP is finding out about places far away. The booklet provided by the national WWDP organisation says Guyana “is a splendid combination of the Caribbean and South America”. The country’s colonial past means that it has a vibrant mix of races, cultures and religions (52% of the population is Christian). Although the first settlers were Amerindians, colonisers came from France, Holland and Britain in the seventeenth century. Many slaves were brought in from West Africa to work in the cotton and sugar plantations. After the abolition of slavery, immigrants came from Europe, China and India to do the work formerly done by slaves. Since 1966 Guyana has been an independent country, with the title after 1970 of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana.
In terms of natural features, Guyana has a long Atlantic coastline and its diverse landscape includes four mountain ranges, dense equatorial forest and broad Savannah. An extensive system of rivers crosses the country, which indeed takes its name from an Amerindian word meaning “Land of Many Waters”. The little known Kaietur Falls is one of the most spectacular waterfalls in the world. The flora and fauna of Guyana are equally diverse – over 800 species of birds (the national bird is the hoatzin), eight species of sea turtle and numerous medicinal plant species. The orchid alone accounts for an incredible 25,000 species. However, the national flower is the huge Victoria Amazonica water lily, with a blossom 10” across.
I hope this brief description has helped to bring to life the background of the people who wrote the beautiful and deeply spiritual service that we were privileged to experience in March.
(WWDP local Committee Member)
The Chapel of Ascension
(from Impact for May 2007)
Although the place of the Ascension is never distinctly stated, it would appear from the Acts that it could have been Mount Olivet since after the Ascension the apostles are described as returning to Jerusalem from the mount that is called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, within a Sabbath day's journey. Tradition has consecrated this site as the Mount of Ascension.
The Chapel of Ascension is located at the highest point in Jerusalem. Erected by Queen Helena as part of a vast Church and Monastery complex (Eleona Basilica or Basilica of Olives) in the year 392 AD, this Chapel (or Mosque) marks the site where Jesus acsended into heaven. Since the time of it's construction, the octogonal shrine has undergone many facelifts. Destroyed by the Persions in the year 614 AD, the Church was eventually reconstructed to it's present day dimensions by the Crusaders. The site was ultimately acquired by two emmissaries of Saladin in the year 1198 and has remained in the possession of the Islamic Waqf of Jerusalem ever since. The Crusader building was converted to a mosque but was never used by Muslims since the overwhelming majority of visitors were Christian. As a gesture of compromise and goodwill, Saladin ordered the construction of a second mosque and mihrab two years later next door to the Chapel for Muslim worship while Christians continued to visit the main Chapel. In the center of the main dome is a stone bearing the worn footprint of Christ as he made his miraculous ascent to heaven. During the Byzantine period, pilgrims were allowed to walk off with pieces of the stone. In the nearly two millenium since the acsension, countless visitors have inflicted a heavy toll on the poor old footprint.
Today, passages from the Bible are recited in many languages as countless tour groups commemorate the last spot on earth the Lord stood and the site where it is believed he will return.
Jesus Taken Up Into Heaven (Acts 1:7-11)
He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." After he said this, he was taken up before their eyes, and a cloud hid him from their site. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven."
To see pictuers of the chapel look here
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